Sonnet LXIV

When I have seen by Time's fell hand defacedThe rich proud cost of outworn buried age;When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed,And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;When I have seen the hungry ocean gainAdvantage on the kingdom of the shore,And the firm soil win of the watery main,Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;When I have seen such interchange of state,Or state itself confounded to decay;Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate That Time will come and take my love away. This thought is as a death which cannot chooseBut weep to have that which it fears to lose.

This sonnet takes up again the theme of time's swift passage, and the destruction of all things. The thought behind it is universal, and the usual antecedents quoted are Horace's odes (exegi monumentum aere perennius - I have built a monument that is more lasting than bronze (i.e. my poems)) and Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

The poet records his reactions to seeing the elaborate monuments to the dead in churches, which, however rich and costly, are subject to decay and destruction. And to the gradual effect of change on sea and land. This prompts him to consider that his beloved will also be subject to the same forces, a thought which adds a deep sadness to the unclouded joy of loving.

The theme is the universal one of the passage of time and the ravages of decay as they affect human life. Literary influences which could have shaped Shakespeare's thinking on the matter date back to the bible (e.g. Ecclessiastes) as well as ancient Greek and Roman authors, many of whom were available in translation. Often quoted in this context is Horace, who ended one of his books of odes with the claim

I have built a monument more lasting than bronze, Loftier than the pyramids on their regal throne, Which neither the wasting rain nor the North wind in its fury Could ever raze to the ground, nor the innumerable Sequence of the years, nor the swift feet of time. Odes III.30

Obviously there are some echoes here which Sh. could have picked up, although it must be stated that the aes (abl. aere) of Horace might be more properly translated as bronze, since Horace would probably be referring to Roman imperial statuary, whereas Sh. would have in mind brasses set into the floor of churches. Commentators have picked on Horace partly because of the reference to 'brass eternal' in l.4. Be that as it may, this particular ode of Horace deals with the power of poetry to immortalize the poet, which is somewhat far removed from the theme of Sonnet 64, being more appropriate to 18, 19, 55, 60. Although even in those sonnets it is not the poet who is to be immortalised, rather it is the loved one of whom he sings. One of the lasting images of Shakespeare's sonnets is that of his own unworthiness as a poet, (as an unperfect actor on the stage, ...these poor rude lines of thy deceased lover; etc., ) The imagery in this particular sonnet does not correspond with the oft quoted ode of Horace. Not that Horace in his other poems is necessarily far from the thought expressed, for there are equally well known verses: Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,/ Labuntur anni -- Alas Postumus, how the years slide past, for all your piety and devotion will not hold back the wrinkles, nor impending old age, nor death which is unconquerable. II 14.; and Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres -- Pale death with indifferent foot kicks down the door of poor men's hovels and the palaces of kings I 4. Even as a poor Latinist (if that is what he was) Sh. would have known something of these verses.

As also he would have known Ovid, in Golding's translation of the Metamorphoses.

Even so have places oftentymes exchaunged theyr estate. / For I have seen it sea which was substanciall ground alate, /Ageine where sea was, I have seene the same become dry londe, ...

This obviously echoes ll.5-8, even though we do not necessarily need to see a direct connection. Such thoughts of change, decay and mortality were the common property of poets of the age, if not of all ages. Perhaps more especially so for those living in cities as large as London at that time. For London could be, at any time, and frequently was, stricken by the plague, causing mortality rates to rise dramatically, forcing theatres to close, and promoting a general exodus. It involved no great stretch of the imagination for Sh. to see himself, or his beloved, as one of the victims of the next calamity.

What makes the great difference in this poem from those quoted, and from many others which touch upon the same or similar thoughts, is the way Sh. expresses these intimations of mortality, in the language which he uses, in the imagery drawn from what he saw around him in his surroundings, and in the direct impact which he perceived his forebodings would have on his love affair with the beloved addressee of the sonnets.

Let us however stick to the more especial matters of exegesis which need to be addressed. The first four lines of the sonnet contain references not to the general passage of time and its destructiveness but to particular elements of that destruction. Thus defaced, lofty towers, brass, mortal rage have references beyond the immediate generality of all things dying and decaying .

1. "defaced" was an almost technical term for the destruction of "images" in churches - e.g. white-washing of the walls to do away with mural paintings. One thinks also of the defacement and destruction of statues and images, which has been undertaken by religous zealots of one persuasion or another over the centuries, in this country, but also in many in Europe. It is not uncommon to come across statues in churches in all countries with badly mauled faces, witnesses to the fanaticism of earlier times.

2. "lofty towers" suggests monastic belfries, although perhaps more the very late development in line with the kind of architecture which went into the so-called wool churches of the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

3. "brass eternal" in a church context suggests the ornamental brasses on the floors of churches. Mortal rage would be evidenced by the energy/zeal with which they were detached from their anchorages and then hauled away to be melted down. The anger of the reformers is transient (mortal) in contrast to the "eternal" brass, a suggestion that the brass represents more than mere metallic longevity. Eamon Duffy in his Stripping of the Altars says that brasses were sold in their hundredweights from 1548 onwards. NB the contrast between suggested "natural causes" in the first line and deliberate destruction of a nasty kind in l.4. (G. Blakemore-Evans thinks that the reference is to the wear and tear on the brasses by parishoners' feet. NCS Sonnets p.171.)***

Other than these historic and actual events there are the descriptions of elemental forces at work, the sea eating away at the land, the land regaining lost territory, and these elemental forces seem to overtake the human world of states and governments. But even the word 'state' one should be careful not to interpret too narrowly, for it must have overtones also of the essence or condition of things in general. In fact the Arden edition gives 'alternation or vicissitude of condition' as the primary meaning of interchange of state (p248) and allocates a possible political meaning to it only secondarily.

Finally, the curious usage this thought is as a death in l.13, which it is difficult to give an obvious meaning to, prompts me to make the suggestion that there is a direct reference to death from the plague, a recurring feature of London life up to 1610. One would be perpetually fearing that precious friends would succumb, and that one would weep to have those whom one feared to lose. Everything was at the random mercy of this fearsome slayer, which descended without warning from year to year. Living in our comfortable age of medicines, universal health and welfare, it is difficult to think ourselves back into those times when disease and early death were the norm, and the beauty of youth was even more transient and vulnerable than it is today.

***For these three suggestions I am indebted to Dr. T. Merriam.

The 1609 Quarto Version

WHen I haue ſeene by times fell hand defaced
The rich proud coſt of outworne buried age,
When ſometime loftie towers I ſee downe raſed,
And braſſe eternall ſlaue to mortall rage.
When I haue ſeene the hungry Ocean gaine
Aduantage on the Kingdome of the ſhoare,
And the firme ſoile win of the watry maine,
Increaſing ſtore with loſſe,and loſſe with ſtore.
When I haue ſeene ſuch interchange of ſtate,
Or ſtate it ſelfe confounded, to decay,
Ruine hath taught me thus to ruminate
That Time will come and take my loue away.
This thought is as a death which cannot chooſe
But weepe to haue,that which it feares to looſe.

Commentary

1. When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced

1. fell = savage, fierce; defaced = disfigured, smashed. Probably a reference to the defacement of idols - the destruction of any images of saints or divinity, which were a special target of Puritan and Reformist zeal. There are many defaced statues on the continent. In this country the destruction was more effective and very little evidence remains.

2. The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;

This
probably refers to monuments in churches
and graveyards, which expressed the pride and grandeur of wealth. Many
monuments
and sepulchres were from ages long since gone, outworn buried
age,
and were subject to ruin and decay, as well as human vandalism.

3. When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed,

sometime
= sometimes; Alternatively
sometime = formerly, which would refer to the
lofty towers, and this
would then give the meaning 'when I see towers which were formerly
lofty
now razed to the ground'.down-raz'd = razed to the ground, ruined. The
destruction of the
monasteries was a comparatively recent event, and fresh in memory.

4. And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;

eternal can refer either to brass, or to slave, probably both. mortal rage = deadly rage. Being a slave to mortal rage would imply being under it's power, rather than being merely its servant. The latter meaning is difficult and does not entirely make sense, as it is not clear what services brass could perform as the minion of mortal rage, other than to be molested by it. mortal rage could also mean 'destruction caused by mortals'. See further commentary on this above.

5. When I have seen the hungry ocean gain

The
imagery is that of an advancing army,
gaining land by pushing its forces forward.

6. Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,

The
army secures a foothold on the land,
an advantage over the enemy.

7. And the firm soil win of the watery main,

the
watery main = the
ocean, the open sea.

8. Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;

Increasing
store with loss - can be
the object of win in the line above, increasing
being adjectival,
in that the land wins an increasing store of territory from the ocean,
with
some losses. Then it receives further losses, with some gains. Or increasing
can be a present participle referring to the firm soil, giving the
meaning
'the firm soil triumphs in its battle against the sea, increasing its
holdings,
albeit with some loss, then increasing its losses with some
compensatory
gains (not as much as the losses)'. With either grammatical
interpretation
the meaning is fairly evident. Perhaps more important is the fact that
the
sound of the line is like the sound of a wave approaching and then
receding,
approaching and receding. store = a holding, something kept, something
reserved to be put aside.

9. When I have seen such interchange of state,

This
takes up the idea of kingdom from
line6. States and governments are subject to
change and ruin, and
especially to changes in the power structures.

10. Or state itself confounded to decay;

Confounded has the meaning of being brought to ruin as well as the meaning of thwarted and blocked.. Cf. Sonn60 line 8 and the note.

11. Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate

ruminate
to consider, speculate,
ponder. Its closeness in sound to ruin and ruinate
is no doubt
deliberate.

12. That Time will come and take my love away.

The
contrast here is between the complex
latinate words of the previous lines - interchange, confounded,
ruminate
- with the simple mono-syllabic Anglo-Saxon words of this line,
underlining
the brutal harshness of the reality. Time's classical destructive
powers
have the immediate non-literary effect of taking away all that is
dearest
to us, over and above its capacity to operate in the historical world
with
temples, monasteries, monuments, bronzes, kings and vast empires.

13. This thought is as a death which cannot choose

This thought is as painful as the thought of death. which seems torefer to thought rather than to death.

14. But weep to have that which it fears to lose.

The thought (or the poet himself) must weep for his beloved's mortality, even though, through love, he possesses him and holds him in his thoughts.